Abstract
Superconducting diodes promise low-dissipation rectification for superconducting electronics and low-temperature applications. Generating a quantized d.c. voltage from radio-frequency (rf) irradiation without external bias could enable self-powered cryogenic devices but are challenging to realize. Here we use the kagome superconductor CsV3Sb5 to demonstrate quantized rf rectification at zero magnetic field. We fabricate transport devices from mechanically exfoliated single-crystal nanobeams with a thickness of 100–200 nm and a width of 1 μm contacted by gold electrodes. These devices exhibit Josephson effects, probably originating from intrinsic weak links within the material, and show Josephson diode effects even at zero external magnetic field. Under rf irradiation without a current bias, a d.c. voltage emerges and scales linearly with the microwave frequency f as \({V}_{{\rm{d.c.}}}={hf}/2e\), where h is Planck’s constant and e is the electron charge. At constant frequency, the voltage increases in quantized steps with increasing rf power, consistent with the emergence of Shapiro steps. Our work establishes CsV3Sb5 as a potential platform for cryogenic-temperature wireless power sources and self-powered voltage standards.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 62425401, 12534001 and 62321004) and Quantum Science and Technology—National Science and Technology Major Project (grant number 2021ZD0302403). C.L. acknowledges the Dutch Research Council (NWO) for financial support from the project SuperHOTS (file number VI.Vidi.203.047).
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Z.-M.L. conceived and supervised the project. H.-X.L., X.L. and Q.Y. fabricated the devices. Z.-B.T. and J.-J.C., with the guidance of D.-P.Y., performed the transport measurements. J.-Z.F., X.-Y.L. and Y.-L.H., with the guidance of Z.-M.W., performed the SdH measurements. X.-M.M. conducted the STEM characterization. Z.-M.L., H.-X.L., X.-G.Y. and A.-Q.W. analysed the data. Z.-M.L., H.-X.L., X.-G.Y., Z.-B.T., J.-J.C., C.L. and A.-Q.W. wrote the manuscript. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.
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Extended data
Extended Data Fig. 1 The scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) images of Device 2.
a-c, The typical STEM images (a and b) and the high angle annular dark field STEM (HAADF-STEM) image (c) captured within the sample present the uniform layered atomic structure of CsV3Sb5. d-f, Distribution maps of each element, Cs (d), V (e) and Sb (f) studied by an energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX).
Extended Data Fig. 2 Thermal modulation of superconducting interference patterns by using a local heater in Device 1.
a, Initial color map of \({\rm{d\it V}}/{\rm{d\it I}}\) as a function of \({I}_{{d.c.}}\) and \({B}_{z}\). Note that the patterns in this figure and in Fig. 1f exhibit variations, as the measurements were conducted on different thermal cycling batches used for comparison. b, Color map of \({\rm{d\it V}}/{\rm{d\it I}}\) as a function of \({I}_{{\rm{d.c.}}}\) and \({B}_{{\rm{z}}}\) obtained after thermal cycling by using a local heater integrated near Device 1. This corresponds to a thermal modulation of 17.8 K (see Supplemental Note 2 for details), which is well below the nematic transition temperature Tnem ≈ 30 K. The oscillation periods of both \({I}_{{\rm{c}}}^{{\prime} }\) (green arrow) and \({I}_{{\rm{c}}}^{{\prime} {\prime} }\) (purple arrow) are changed after thermal cycling, indicating a clear thermal modulation.
Extended Data Fig. 3 Superconducting interference patterns obtained by different field-sweeping directions.
The mappings obtained at 50 mK by sweeping magnetic field \({B}_{z}\) from -6 to 6 mT (a), 6 to -6 mT (b), and 0 to 6 mT then to -6 mT (c), respectively. The vertical yellow dashed lines are guides to eyes. There is no visible phase shift in three superconducting interference patterns measured under different field-sweeping directions, demonstrating the absence of trapped vortices in the measurement.
Extended Data Fig. 4 Multiple sets of Shapiro steps.
a, Three different sets of Shapiro steps, extracted from the contour lines in the Fig. 2a, which correspond to three different Josephson junctions JJ1, JJ2 and JJ3. b, The frequency-reduced direct voltage \({\widetilde{V}}_{{\rm{d.c.}}}\) (normalized by \(\frac{{hf}}{2e}\)) versus \({I}_{{\rm{d.c.}}}\) at low rf powers and low \({I}_{{\rm{d.c.}}}\), presenting the fractional Shapiro steps. c, \({\widetilde{V}}_{{\rm{d.c.}}}\) as a function of rf power at various \({I}_{{\rm{d.c.}}}\), presenting the evolution of Shapiro steps from hf/2e to hf/e at relatively large rf powers.
Extended Data Fig. 5 Relationship between transition peaks and Shapiro steps.
a, \({\rm{d\it V}}/{\rm{d\it I}}\) and \({V}_{{\rm{d.c.}}}\) as the functions of \({I}_{{\rm{d.c.}}}\), showing various superconducting transition peaks. b, rf power dependent critical currents of JJ1, JJ2 and JJ3. c, \(I\)-\(V\) curves under rf irradiation with different rf powers. d, Color map of \({\rm{d\it V}}/{\rm{d\it I}}\) as a function of \({I}_{{\rm{d.c.}}}\) and \({B}_{{\rm{z}}}\) at \(T=50\,{\rm{mK}}\), \(f=2\,{\rm{GHz}}\) with a rf power of \(-2.6\,{\rm{dBm}}\), presenting multiple distinct sets of interference patterns.
Extended Data Fig. 6 Temperature dependence of superconducting interference patterns and AC Josephson effect.
a-c, The differential resistance \({\rm{d\it V}}/{\rm{d\it I}}\) map as a function of \({I}_{{\rm{d.c.}}}\) and \({B}_{{\rm{z}}}\) obtained at 2.0 K (a), 2.3 K (b) and 2.6 K (c), respectively, showing robust superconducting interference patterns against temperature. d-g, \({\widetilde{V}}_{{\rm{d.c.}}}\) (in units of \(\frac{{hf}}{2e}\)) versus \({I}_{{\rm{d.c.}}}\) at different temperatures, with various rf powers applied. The integer Shapiro steps can be clearly observed, showing robustness against temperature.
Extended Data Fig. 7 rf response modulated by magnetic field.
a and b, Mapping of \({V}_{{\rm{d.c.}}}\) as a function of \({I}_{{\rm{d.c.}}}\) and rf power with magnetic field of 2.5 mT (a) and -2.5 mT (b), respectively. The nonzero DC voltages emerge at specific rf powers without external current source, presenting quantized steps. c and d, The frequency-normalized \({\widetilde{V}}_{{\rm{d.c.}}}\) output exhibits oppositive (both fractional and integer) voltage steps at positive magnetic field (c) and negative magnetic field (d). e, The \({V}_{{\rm{d.c.}}}\) map as a function of \({I}_{{\rm{d.c.}}}\) and \({B}_{{\rm{z}}}\) is obtained at \(T=50\,{\rm{mK}}\) and \(f=2\,{\rm{GHz}}\), with a rf power of \(2.6\,{\rm{dBm}}\). The nonzero DC voltage can be observed along the zero current cut line (the gray dotted line), with the small magnetic fields applied. The polarity of output DC voltage is reversed when flipping the direction of magnetic field. f and g, Quantized rectification under magnetic fields. The DC voltage on/off switching can be realized by a rf power pulse of 6.7 dBm with an out of-plane magnetic field \({B}_{z}\) = -2.5 mT applied (f). When applying a magnetic field \({B}_{{\rm{z}}}\) = 2.5 mT in the opposite direction, the similar rectification can be achieved by a rf power pulse of 6.6 dBm, but the polarity of the rectification is reversed (g).
Extended Data Fig. 8 Power dependence of the output DC voltage.
The output DC voltage measured at \({I}_{{\rm{d.c.}}}\) = 0, \({B}_{{\rm{z}}}=-2.5\,{\rm{mT}}\) with frequency f of 0.4 GHz (a and c) and 0.6 GHz (b and d), respectively. At low rf power range, the frequency-normalized \({\widetilde{V}}_{{\rm{d.c.}}}\) exhibits a series of fractional voltage steps (a and b), while the integer voltage steps emerge one by one at higher rf powers.
Extended Data Fig. 9 Rectification at a higher temperature and higher frequency.
At \(T=1.6\,{\rm{K}}\), \(f=4\,{\rm{GHz}}\) and \(B=0\,{\rm{T}}\), DC voltage on/off states are achieved with a rf power pulse of 10.2 dBm.
Extended Data Fig. 10 Quantized rectification voltage and AC Josephson effect of a Josephson diode.
a, The potential \({\rm{\it U}}\) as a function of phase \(\varphi\) with \({E}_{J+}{\ne E}_{J-}\) at zero bias current. b, Phase particle \(\varphi\) evolution in a tilted washboard potential \(U\) in a period of time \(\Delta t\). c, Illustration of phase slip across the junction with zero overall charge transferred. d, Differential resistance shows no hysteresis with current sweeping up and sweeping down, indicating it is an overdamping junction. e, Numerical simulation of the differential resistance evolution with normalized current \({i}_{{d.c.}}\) and \(20\log ({i}_{ac})\), with \(\lambda =2\) and \(\varOmega =0.04\).
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Lou, HX., Chen, JJ., Ye, XG. et al. Quantized radio-frequency rectification in a kagome superconductor Josephson diode. Nat. Nanotechnol. (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-025-02120-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-025-02120-x
